The Long and Winding Road - An Opportunity to Practive What We Preach

I recently spent a week at Malmstrom AFB training new SKIDCAR instructors. It was -17 degrees in Montana and upon arrival I was trying to stay warm in the HumVee as best I could (“What do you mean there are no seat heaters?”) which was keeping me very busy… Busy stuffing heat packs in my shoes and back pants pockets, busy whining about all the holes in the roof and floorboard, and busy trying to duct tape those holes to stop the incessant cold air and snow from coming in.

But if you ever think today’s young Air Force personnel are not committed to training the younger generation coming into the service, I am here to tell you these kids are full of the “Right Stuff”! I was absolutely humbled by their energy and commitment to absorb the correct thing to do. They just wanted to learn how to use the SKIDCAR equipment to save lives. Concern over my impending hypothermia was quickly overshadowed by my excitement about the younger generation and their desire for driver training.

After a brilliant week with the new instructors at Malmstrom I headed for Lewiston, ID and another customer, Lewis Clark State College. The drive between the two was more than 200 miles in snow, ice, and ever-changing conditions. As I drove the Jeep without the SKIDCAR, I went through the same ESC on-and-off driving scenarios I use when we are in sunny conditions, a dry parking lot, and using the SKIDCAR. And I proved again that the SKIDCAR duplicates those conditions with amazing clarity.

Most importantly, I spent hours in practice of what we preach: that if you can concentrate on being technically correct, you can drive quickly, have a blast, and not endanger any other human being.

I utilized the techniques we as instructors are all trying to pass on; use of thought process, use of vision, technically correct use of the steering, brakes, and gas, stable platform, and not relying on ESC but rather trying to drive so that you don't activate it. Only going as fast as you would be able to stop within your line of sight as a speedometer. No over the perceived center line was allowed. No leaning on the snow banks as you passed startled drivers was encountered; only one solo, multi-hour stint behind the wheel, practicing the craft of driving, with passion, and without mistake.

With the help of Joe Bonamassa (Black Rock) and Joe Satriani (Crystal Planet) I cut 22 minutes off of the GPS arrival time. Seriously, no human or animal life was sacrificed in this drive. Given that the GPS estimate was based on dry, perfect roadways, the outcome was simple: drive with good thought process, using what we teach, and your performance will be more than adequate to get you where you need to be as fast as is practically possible. Plus, more safety and less risk is the reward.

The opportunity to drive "99 Miles of Uninterrupted Winding Road" in snow and ice-covered blacktop is something that is very hard to find. Over the years I’ve gotten to do a lot of winter driving in the North of Sweden. But this year on Lolo pass is unquestionably the finest and longest uninterrupted, long-distance, technically correct drive I have had in a long time, if ever.

I wish you all could have been there. Even the screamers.

~Dane

Type B SKIDCAR Delivery

A photo of our most recent delivery; a Type B SKIDCAR to Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana.

Technology is Here - Use it to Save Your Budget and Improve Training

The New Year has arrived and the challenges faced by everyone in the training industry are not getting any easier. Training technologies are moving ahead, but in some sectors “technologies” may just mean more equipment to purchase.

In our component, driver training has taken a huge hit where operating budgets are concerned. Driver training of all types is very expensive. New equipment, old curriculum, lack of understanding of new driver safety technologies that have been built into new vehicles of almost every type; all of this has been put on the back shelf to be dealt with later. Or even worse, not thought of at all until we are forced to by catastrophe!

Will someone be injured or lose his or her life due to ignorance or the lack of ability (funds) to affect improvement or change? Here are a few curriculum topics that need to be addressed and are only the tip of the iceberg:

How many agencies have written curriculum to address driving new vehicles equipped with Electronic Stability Control or Traction Control?

What about Pursuit Intervention Techniques (P.I.T.) against a vehicle with ESC, and what if both vehicles have ESC?

What policies have been thought of regarding when to push the ESC/ESP or related button to change the ESC program for different traction and control needs?

What do the Driver Instructor Staff tell their students or in-service personnel about these new technologies that are already in the field and will be in every new unit that goes into service as of this model year?

Should the local agencies ask for help from NHTSA to work with A.L.E.R.T. to develop current standards for training with these federally mandated safety systems?

These are just a few of the questions that the Emergency/Pubic Safety driver training industry is starting to be aware of.

Now, let’s fast forward to the emerging training landscape 2012…

Because of budgets, new technology, and OLD driver training curriculum, it is still possible to survive.

I can ask any of my contemporaries in the driver training technology business: “What is our biggest problem?” Categorically the answer is “improper use of the equipment.” Whether it be a driving simulator or our SKIDCAR™, the statement is the same. The training that we give gets diluted, the originally trained staff disappears, a newly assigned instructor comes into training and tries to understand and use new technology with an old curriculum. Curriculum that was designed with 30-year-old technology called ABS as new!

In many cases academies have invested in SKIDCAR™ and simulator technology but don’t integrate the two into a cohesive program. With best-case scenarios, these assets can be combined and customized to streamline the benefits and cut costs in training.

With thought, new technology used correctly can speed up the learning curve, cut hours from behind the wheel exercises, lessen the need for multimillion-dollar high-speed, high-risk faux race courses, and produce a safer modern driver that beyond all other tasks can operate in the environment where Public Safety comes first and foremost.

We would be most interested in and invite your comments.

SKIDCAR News - Summer/Fall 2011, Alabama

AMIC Prepares First 2012 Caprice SKIDCAR: Montgomery, ALABAMA

Alabama Municipal Insurance Corp. has installed a SKIDCAR onto a 2012 Chevrolet Caprice. This is the first Chevrolet Caprice in North America to be used with a SKIDCAR SYSTEM. The conversion was recently completed at their Montgomery, Alabama base and as you read this, several weeks of training will have already been delivered by Stanley Fant (Alabama State Trooper Retired), the Driver Training Coordinator for AMIC.

In testing the new Caprice SKIDCAR, Fant and President of AMIC, Steve Wells, were immediately impressed. “The new safety technology available is incredible. We do see though that an experienced driver is predisposed to overreact to the ESC system operation and actually fight against its helping gain back control. Training with this new model will help us keep our insured drivers up to date with the vehicle safety technology so that we continue to lower accident rates with our SKIDCAR program.” The SKIDCAR program has a proven track record in Alabama. The losses from motor vehicle accidents continue to fall due to the driver training programs utilizing the AMIC SKIDCAR.

SKIDCAR News - Summer/Fall 2011, Oregon

Oregon DPSST SKIDTRUCK® Instructor Training: Salem, OREGON

In August we were at the DPSST (Department of Public Safety Standards and Training) in Salem, Oregon working with the Fire Academy and training the instructors who use their SKIDTRUCK®. The Oregon DPSST has a very successful driver training program utilizing a FORD F650 Crew Cab that serves as a Mobile Program delivered throughout the state, training rural firefighters as well as full time personnel. The SKIDTRUCK has been put to good use in a variety of environments, including parking lots, driving pads, and airport facilities throughout the state.

This driver training program has been one of the most popular training programs for the DPSST, with requests for training continuing to push the program to its maximum. With Oregon’s diverse weather conditions, the need to train for inclement weather driving is critical. Because of the importance of exposing both new and experienced drivers to the hazards of operating a fire apparatus, the SKIDTRUCK has proved to be an excellent investment for the State of Oregon and its driver safety courses.

The elemental lessons learned from driving a large truck in slippery conditions, including components of knowing how to think in the right way and the uncommon lesson of using your vision correctly when operating any vehicle, make the SKIDTRUCK the perfect training vehicle for fire service training. We want to congratulate the Oregon DPSST for their excellence in training initiative and for using their SKIDTRUCK to its maximum value concerning driver and public safety.

SKIDCAR Jeep Photos

If you haven't seen the SKIDCAR Jeep for our Mobile Driver Training Program yet, check out these pics featured on GeckoWraps.com.

http://www.geckowraps.com/products/index.php?a=2&b=671

The Value of Skid Control Training

Below is correspondence from a public online forum, UKPoliceOnline. The exchange is between Jim Hawkins, of SKID CAR UK, and the owner of another skid control training company. Jim gives a great answer to the inquiry of how much value there is in skid control curriculum. Take a look...

Question:
Hi - just joined the forum. I'm hoping for some help with a query... I understand that there are some new directives coming in that stipulate all blues & twos drivers (ambulance, fire as well as police) have to complete a practical skid control driving course.

Do you think that skid control/avoidance training is worthwhile - not only for yourselves as professional drivers but also for young/inexperienced drivers? Asking because a "driving expert" in USA thinks such training encourages drivers to skid - would be interested in your thoughts...

Jim’s Response:
I am grateful to a Google search for introducing me to this forum. We hope you will agree that a business that has been involved in teaching ‘SKIDDING’ to the British Police, for the last 25 years, has a right to comment on this subject.

We at SKID CAR UK, most definitely support the introduction of any aid that may help prevent collisions on the UK roads and we must commend those organizations that have adopted the no car without ESC ethos.

SKID CAR UK wholly agrees that Skid Control should not be taught to inexperienced drivers and it is for this reason that SKID CAR UK has NOT taught SKID CONTROL, to qualified SKID CAR UK instructors, for the last 10 years.

The techniques taught at all our courses have introduced the British Driver to such techniques as Cadence Braking, Declutching, Threshold Braking, and Braking with Anti Lock Brakes and these techniques have enabled drivers all over the world to drive safely on today’s roads.

With the advent of ESC, which replicates all the techniques listed above, one may be tempted to say that there is no longer a need to teach such techniques. However, when you teach someone how to use a new type of firearm, do you rely on the fact he or she has only used a pistol? Alternatively, do you train him or her on how to use the new weapon, safely? After all a Motor Car can also be a lethal weapon!

What concerns SKID CAR UK the most is that a newly qualified driver will not fully understand the concept behind the introduction of any type of ESC. Indeed, this is the case with the current Anti Locking Braking Systems and Traction Control Systems. With many drivers, not having any inclination of what these systems are, let alone knowing how to use them correctly!

As you are no doubt aware, ESC has reduced the collision rates within Scandinavia. However, the Scandinavian authorities regard the training associated with learning how to use such systems, in all types of driving conditions, as the reason for this reduction.

Our Swedish advisors continue to impress on us that “New Systems Demand New Knowledge” and that you can still “Learn Today and Live Tomorrow!” However, you need to use up-to-date teaching methods and techniques. It is time for all SKID CAR frames to be fitted with a vehicle that has ESC.

In fact, ESC has really benefited SKID CAR because for years we have tried to show drivers how realistic it is in all types of weather conditions and ESC has allowed us to do that. Now if you Accelerate Harshly, or Speed, or use Coarse Steering on a corner on which SKID CAR is simulating a wet or icy road ESC will activate. This MUST mean SKID CAR does simulate the correct conditions.

Our advice is to STOP ‘skid training’ and implement what the proposed HSDT Code of Practice states. Avoid and correct skids when driving an emergency vehicle, by being able to do the following:

1. Identify the causation and types of skid.
2. Drive the vehicle in a manner which minimizes the risk of skidding.
3. Understand appropriate corrective action to the type of vehicle being driven.

The point to note here is avoid and correct, NOT CONTROL! This makes it more puzzling because SKID CAR can be used as effectively in Sections 1.1 – 1.4. Where it states, within the range statements, that the elements must cover Weather Conditions and Road Surfaces, just the elements that SKID CAR simulates to allow the driver to learn how to avoid and correct!

SKID CAR is like any other piece of training equipment. If it is used correctly by professionally trained operators and maintained regularly, it will work well. Abuse it, as a FUN FAYRE ride or like a SKID PAN and it will break!

‘JIM’ Hawkins
Adverse Driving Consultant
Senior Partner & Training Manager @ SKID CAR UK
UK Marketing Manager for CEDERGRENS of Sweden
Essential Adverse Driving Course Manager & Instructor
MAIRSO & BRAKE